bcp utf8 file

I'm outputting a file from a mySQL server that contains 1 column that
has input it many languages. The base definition for the column is
UTF8.

I output the data into a flat file and bcp it to a sql2000 server, and
the multi-byte data does not survive the translation.

Any ideas on how to input a UTF8 flat file into the server using BCP?

I've tried the -n -N -w options -- no luck.

thanks,

edAssuming that your destination column is nvarchar or nchar, then -w
should be the correct option; -n or -N are specific to MSSQL, so
they're unlikely to work. I've never used bcp to import a file like
that myself, so I can't really say for sure what the solution is, but
under "Copying Data Between Different Collations" in Books Online, it
suggests using a bcp format file with specific collations. You might
also try using DTS to import the data, as it's generally a lot smarter
than bcp, however again I've never tried importing a UTF8 file with it.

Simon|||(geekboyed@.gmail.com) writes:
> I'm outputting a file from a mySQL server that contains 1 column that
> has input it many languages. The base definition for the column is
> UTF8.
> I output the data into a flat file and bcp it to a sql2000 server, and
> the multi-byte data does not survive the translation.
> Any ideas on how to input a UTF8 flat file into the server using BCP?

Since you cannot store UTF-8 data in SQL 2000 in any civilized way,
you need to first convert the file to UCS-2. (Or UTF_16 if you prefer.
I hope you are not using surrogates.)

A simple way to do this is to open the file in Notepad, and then change
encoding when you do Save As.

I'm a little uncertain how any byte-order mark would affect BCP.
Notepad is likely to add one, but I don't know if BCP is smart
enough to ignore it.

--
Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, esquel@.sommarskog.se

Books Online for SQL Server SP3 at
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techin.../2000/books.asp